NHL Hockey: Is It All Bunged Up?

The once mighty puck cries out for help as it tries to find its way to the net

 by Lisa Ovens

A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with my friend Rory. The subject of shot blocking came up. Rory's solution: "Penalize the players that go down to block a shot. They can block all they want standing up, but as soon as they go down, blow the whistle." Well, that's one way to look at it. Blocking shots is the latest poster child for what's ailing the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it certainly has many people worried and upset. Most of the upset people are standing on the sidelines now that their teams have been knocked out of contention for Lord Stanley's Cup. But there is more to this than just the blocked shots.

Legendary coach, Scotty Bowman put his CSI skills to work and pinpoints defensive strategies utilized by the late Roger Neilson ( during his coaching days with the Toronto Maple Leafs) as the blue print for what we are seeing right now. (click here for the Globe and Mail article). World's greatest female player, Hayley Wickeneiser has also weighed in on the Playoffs, and she's bored. I have to laugh at this because usually it's the guys calling the girls game boring and unwatchable. (Click here for Hayley's story)

Scotty's final words on the matter... "There's nothing anybody can do about it." I guess that's what a guy with a team like those win hogging Montreal Canadiens of the 1970's would say. Which is probably why Roger Neilson cooked up and deployed his defensive strategy in the first place: he was trying to beat a virtually unbeatable team! So my next question is, who's going to be the Roger Neilson today? Who's going to try and UN-bung this trend, so we don't see a bunch of  General Managers on an off-season prowl for free agent shot blockers and worse, a bunch of coaches mimicking this style next season (should it win the Cup).

I feel sorry for the guys on the point when it is "shot block time"...all they do is pass it back and forth to each other trying to see a shot that just isn't there. The Point men are desperate and have lost their mojo. The pain delivered from a hard shot is not enough of a deterrent. Maybe the puck also needs be ablaze with fire, or equipped with those exploding dye packets used to foil bank robberies.

When I think back to those days watching the highly skilled trio of Marcus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison. When they had to play Jacques Lemaire's defense first Minnesota Wild, they often had to dump and chase, because of the Wild's Neutral Zone Trap. Sometimes they would lob the puck high over the Neutral Zone because that was where the glut of Wild sweaters were, waiting to stop the Canucks from skating the puck into the zone.

Well, what if, instead of firing hard shots from the point that will most likely be blocked, the point guys gently flip the puck up, nice and high, in the general direction of the net, over everyone's heads in the "Offensive Zone Clog", and let the puck fall where ever it may; at the very least, getting it bouncing around for someone to do something skillful and/or wacky in the name of a scoring chance. Or we could always hope two of the defenders both lunge for the puck at the same time, only to fall like Keystone Cops. I think it would be more exciting to watch these lobs inside the offensive zone, than to watch the two guys at the point repeatedly pass the puck back and forth, searching for an unavailable shooting lane. I don't know, but maybe these offensive zone lobs  would somehow shame the shot-blockers (and the Coaches who clog them) enough so they'd think..."this isn't the way this game is supposed to be - what are we thinking?" Yep, there's nothing like a good shaming to set some people straight.

So there. Scotty Bowman, this "anybody" has come up with a new strategy!

But, maybe this idea is not good one. The thought of all the potential high sticks batting at a lobbed puck is a dangerous one, though it would draw some penalties. But it could be worth a try, and its the kind of solution that doesn't involve a new rule or a messy red dye.

Gosh...I ended with a rhyme ;o)

Tough Day at the Office: Round Two Game Five: Nucks/B.hawks

By Lisa Ovens


Blackhawks lead the series 3-2

Oh to be a hockey fan in Vancouver during the playoffs! The roller coaster ride continues after the 4-2 loss last night. It was very apparent to me Canucks fans were still harboring some anger after the overtime loss in game four, and many of them were present in the crowd at GM Place. I’ll get to that stuff in a moment.

There were a few things I liked about the game: the anthem singing was fantastic, and set a very positive tone for the first period. Rick Rypien delivered some heavy hits when he activated his “hit switch”. I felt Mats Sundin played a very good game, and to see him score such a beautiful goal in the second period was a very sweet moment. The fans erupted after that one, and I know Sundin critics must have smiled and high fived anyone available during the celebration. If there’s one moment Mats could use to up his game to another level for next time, that goal surely must be it. He could call it the “I still got it” goal. Seize it Mats, take it and run with it as best as you can.

Now, onto the not so good...Alex Burrows paid some attention to B.Hawks goal tender, Nikolai Khabibulin, but chirping at him is not the kind of attention I’d like to see. The Canucks can beat this guy, but they have to take the shots to do it. I believe it was Wayne Gretzky who said “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” The shots on goal were 31-21 in favor of the B.Hawks. Khabibulin isn’t the better goaltender in this series, and the Canucks should be throwing everything, including the kitchen sink at him.

Kevin Bieksa, our delightfully, hot headed, pineapple juice drinking defenseman, needs to tone it down sometimes and last night he had me on my feet yelling “BACK OFF BIEKSA!!!” during the after whistle scrums. We just don’t know where the whistles are going to be next time around so he needs to reel himself in and channel the heat elsewhere, like ooh I don’t know, scoring a few goals because he was the Canucks highest scoring defensemen during the regular season, and they need scoring to win this series.

The ice. I bring this up because I saw lots of slips and falls last night, and I think they ought to check the ice, especially the ice in the Canucks offensive zone, to the right of the B.Hawks bench. (In other words I am looking to see a game seven, folks ;o) I called Pittsburgh Penguins correspondent, Jan Snyder to get her take on ice issues and she said, “Yes, the ice at this time of year...they are saying the ice in Washington is slushy, the ice in Pittsburgh is sticky.” In which I responded with “Then I guess our ice in Vancouver is too slippery – hahaha!!”

The good old hockey game. Perhaps it was a mixture of referee confusion and the Canucks mistakes, but the crowd in GM Place did not hide their feelings during the second and third periods. Is this a case of “we’ve heard far too much good call, bad call, and no call critiques in the sports media that we’ll snap at anything the moment confusion sets in”?

What I mean by confusion is the where are the whistles confusion, and if whistles have been firmly placed in the zebras’ pockets, will they stay there, or will they suddenly re-appear in the last ten minutes of the game?

The collective behavior of 18,630 people in one of these types of games, is an experience, and to quote Seinfeld’s George Costanza's line “The Sea was Angry that day my friends.” But instead of “an old man trying to send back soup in a deli”, one guy chucked a cup of beer onto the ice. And then another guy throws one and another and so on and so on. This is what happens when the passion for the team and the game can truly get the better of people. To say this city is desparate for a championship is an understatement.

The Chicago Blackhawks have plenty to bring to the table every night under the watchful eyes of the legendary Scotty Bowman. But on Monday night for Game Six, the Canucks are going to bring a new attitude: they’re on the road, they are healthier than the Calgary Flames were, and they’ve got nothing to lose. And if they play their cards right, the Canucks will be another win closer to the Western Conference Final.